CONSTITUTIONAL LAW—HIGHWAY ADVERTISING CONTROL ACT

• Published date: 01 March 1969
• Date: 01 March 1969
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1744-1714.1969.tb01320.x

Case

Digests

CONSTITUTIONAL

LAW-HIGHWAY

ADVERTISING

CONTROL

ACT

MARKHAM

ADVERTISING

COMPANY

V.

STATE

OF

WASHING-

TON,

439

P.2

(248)

(Wash.

1968)

A

number

of

outdoor advertising companies, compromising virtually the

entire outdoor advertising business in the State of Washington, brought this

action to test the constitutionality

of

the Washington Highway Advertising

Control Act

of

1961.

The initial complaint prayed for

a

declaratory judgment

and

a

temporary injunction to prevent the removal

of

certain advertising signs.

Two federal statutes

as

well

as

a Washington state statute are involved in

this

case. Congress first provided for the control

of

outdoor advertisimg in

a

bill

passed

in

1958

in conjunction with the

federal

interstate highway

pro-

gram. The purpose

of

this bill was

expressed

as

follows:

To

promote the safety, convenience, and enjoyment

of

public travel and the free

flow

of interstate commerce and to protect the public investment in the national sys-

tems

of

interstate and defense highways, it

is

declared to

be

in the public interest to

encourage and assist the states

to

control the use of and to improve areas adjacent

to

the interstate system

by

controlling the direction and maintenance

of

outdoor adver-

tising signs, displays, and devices adjacent to that system.

The regulatory

area

was

a

600

foot belt lining the

federal

right

of

way

and

within

this

area

only four types of signs were permitted. In order to induce the

states to enter into an agreement with the Secretary

of

Commerce, the states